Since all their competitors do the same, I don't think they will change, probably they would lose clients.

Apparently they don't worry much about the translation section. The same client who pays peanuts for translations, might pay well developers, so perhaps this is just an incentive to attract them. But who knows...

The client stated in the job description, that she was aware that the rate was extremely low, but that it was because, she was going to be providing a lot of work to the freelancer. So, since when does being awarded more work mean, that we have to settle for less pay? It doesn't.

This is actually a very successful marketing ploy that copywriters often use to sell products. Of course, this only works if you're not an established professional with a steady stream of clients.

An average freelancer's chief concern/fear/worry will be landing clients. He/she might've sent out proposal after proposal, only to be greeted by crickets.

So, they're naturally attracted to words like "REGULAR," "ONGOING," and "LONG-TERM." The job posters successfully play on freelancers' fears and emotions by using those words. And they do work. Some people will work for a pittance because they give in to this fear of not being able to pay their bills next month. Like moths to a flame, they flock to these postings in the hope of landing something that will give them a 'stable' income and accept whatever rates are proposed.

Although my rates are still nowhere close to what professionals charge (being based out of a country that is scoffed at when it comes to English and freelancing in general doesn't help), many clients balk at being asked to pay 7 cents a word for "just writing."

PS. The "budget too low" option is pretty useless because these long term jobs will have budgets in excess of $2k. And also, that option merely hides it from YOUR job feed. The algorithm just learns to find the jobs that you want. Or it tries, badly. I still get Swedish to English translations in my feed soo..yeah.

The client stated in the job description, that she was aware that the rate was extremely low, but that it was because, she was going to be providing a lot of work to the freelancer. So, since when does being awarded more work mean, that we have to settle for less pay? It doesn't.

This is actually a very successful marketing ploy that copywriters often use to sell products. Of course, this only works if you're not an established professional with a steady stream of clients.

An average freelancer's chief concern/fear/worry will be landing clients. He/she might've sent out proposal after proposal, only to be greeted by crickets.

So, they're naturally attracted to words like "REGULAR," "ONGOING," and "LONG-TERM." The job posters successfully play on freelancers' fears and emotions by using those words. And they do work. Some people will work for a pittance because they give in to this fear of not being able to pay their bills next month. Like moths to a flame, they flock to these postings in the hope of landing something that will give them a 'stable' income and accept whatever rates are proposed.

...

And because of those terrible clients, when I am geniunely posting small trial jobs for long-term contracts I have to bend over backwards to prove I'm a good client...

Evelyn, I have been working either full or part time as a freelancer writer since the mid-80s. There has never been one moment of those 30+ years in which writers weren't running around shouting about how the sky was falling because lowball writers were "ruining the market" and soon none of us would be able to make a living as writers.

My standard hourly writing rate today is exactly six times what it was when I first heard the warning cries about how writers who "sold themselves short" or wrote for free would put us all out of business, though I'm frequently told that I don't charge enough.

Surely you don't genuinely believe that if no writer would take on that .70 job, that client would suddenly be willing and able to pay $100/article? Or even $40? If we can agree that most clients offering work at such painfully low rates would not be in a position to increase their rates by several thousand percent if they couldn't find writers at their present rates, then it is clear that those clients and the writers working for them have no impact whatsover on the professional writing market.

Unfortunately, it seems like the whole industry of translation is going down, and I do believe that part of it is the lack of education related to this field. What I mean is that people who have no background whatsoever in translation, have no idea of how much works it take, how much dedication, precision, accuracy, professionality, patience. And I refer to clients that say the " three cents is too much" and to other people, who decide that they can be translators although they have no cognition or background in linguistics, just because they speak two languages.

Moreover, what I notice translating from Dutch into Italian is that people ask less and less for direct translation. They prefer to translate from Dutch into English and then from English into Italian. Demand is higher, therefore competition is higher and rates are lower.

I don't have more than two years of experience in the field, therefore I am still in the phase where I actually spend more time client networking and curing all the other aspects of my business, than translating itself. What I learned- and I learned it quickly- is to have a strong work ethic and never accept rates that are so low that would not motivate me to work. I know it might sound venal, but I see money as a reward for having done a good job. No reward, no motivation. I also learned that professionality is expected (and I always try to keep up to the high standards I impose on myself) but rarely given in return. Even when I collaborate with groups which are respectable and well-established, I still had times where I had to send them multiple emails to obtain a reply!

Sorry for this long email, but in Italian, we say that when a "pain is shared is less painful".

I think Upwork is perfect for those who have a long established Profile and client list. I'm only doing this for about 2-3 years and I'm just starting to build up return clients and (hopefully) will have my first large project coming up shortly.

It is however an 'added' feature for me to my normal daily job as I have plenty of spare time.

I do hope that in 10 years or so I will be able to get my main income from what i'm building here, but you have to have patience. Don't take low paid jobs, even if the pay valuewise is 'high'. 250$ for 25,000 words is still one of the lowest rates. Set your rate per word and stick to that. Deliver the quality of work that makes those rates deserved.

Take smaller high value jobs ( 30$ for 300 words is perfect in my eyes for now) and build your JSS. have patience.

" The bond with a true dog is as lasting as the ties of this earth will ever be "